At those words, Zhou Mengyan was stunned. “They’ve fallen out?”
“What do you mean, fallen out?”
“Zhang Shi and Ren Tianye? How could they possibly fall out?”
Ruan Fei asked in surprise, “What? Brother Mengyan, you didn’t know?”
Then he slapped his forehead. “It only happened just now, so the news probably hasn’t reached us yet.”
“But it should arrive very soon…”
As though even the heavens were helping Ruan Fei, the moment he finished speaking, the voice of a messenger rang out from beyond the door.
“Report!”
“Grand Commander, something major has happened in the Jiangbei fortress complex.”
Zhou Mengyan walked around Ruan Fei and asked, “What happened?”
“Ren Tianye held a grand assembly to commend the generals who had distinguished themselves during the southern campaign. He specifically praised Wang Ming, saying that Wang Ming was the greatest contributor of them all.”
“At the same time, he said that Zhang Shi, despite also being a general, was unfit for important responsibilities. Throughout the entire march south, he had accomplished nothing, merely wasting provisions and money. He had even made several wagers with Wang Ming and lost miserably every time, humiliating himself in public!”
Zhou Mengyan immediately grew agitated. “Is that true?”
The messenger replied, “Everyone witnessed it, so there should be no way it could be fabricated.”
Zhou Mengyan’s firm judgment began to waver.
Discord between a commander and his generals was common in the military.
He himself had experienced such a situation in the past. In fact, while Ren Tianye was campaigning south, he had wondered whether Zhang Shi—who had earned great merit by sweeping through the northern frontier and destroying the enemy’s strongholds—would truly submit to Ren Tianye without question.
Perhaps some conflict would arise between them!
He had never expected it to actually happen.
“Brother Mengyan, you heard him, didn’t you?” Ruan Fei hurriedly said. “Ren Tianye and General Zhang Shi have had a falling-out. General Zhang Shi must be dissatisfied with Ren Tianye. If he is coming to surrender at a time like this, then his sincerity is beyond doubt.”
“You have to win him over properly!”
“As long as you bring General Zhang Shi into our fold, not only will it strengthen our military, it will also deal a blow to Ren Tianye. This is a rare opportunity with benefits on every side. We absolutely cannot let it slip away!”
The logic was obvious, and Zhou Mengyan naturally understood it. In fact, he understood it so well that he could see countless additional advantages hidden within the situation.
Yet doubts still lingered in his heart.
That was Zhang Shi they were talking about—not some insignificant nobody under Ren Tianye. If they made even one careless mistake and something went wrong, the result could be the annihilation of the entire army!
The natural barrier of the Yangtze River was already formidable enough. As long as he worked hard and remained vigilant, he could hold it securely. Under such stable circumstances, was it really wise to bring Zhang Shi into their ranks?
If nothing went wrong, then everyone would be happy.
But if there was a problem, wouldn’t they be bringing disaster upon themselves?
“Brother Mengyan, what are you still thinking about?” Ruan Fei was beginning to grow displeased. “Are you still suspicious of General Zhang Shi?”
“Don’t you know how stifled General Zhang Shi has been in Ren Tianye’s camp?”
“General Zhang Shi is the great hero who swept across the northern frontier. His achievements were enough to earn him a marquisate and the highest offices in the court. Yet since the southern campaign began, he hasn’t accomplished a single thing. All the credit has been taken by Wang Ming because of Ren Tianye’s favoritism!”
“At Wusheng Pass, General Zhang Shi went around to attack from the rear, only for Wang Ming to seize the pass first!”
“At Qingfeng Courier Station, Luoyan Ferry, and Pingling Market, General Zhang Shi refused to accept the situation and made a wager with Wang Ming. In the end, Wang Ming captured all three strongholds without shedding a drop of blood!”
“At Zhenjiang City, the central fortress of the Jiangbei fortress complex, General Zhang Shi had already fought with everything he had. But what happened in the end? Even the most important city, Zhenjiang, was taken by Wang Ming.”
“Brother Mengyan, let me ask you—if this happened to you, could you endure it?”
“General Zhang Shi has already rendered great service, yet because Ren Tianye kept suppressing him, he hasn’t been allowed to accomplish anything during the southern campaign. If it were me, I would have exploded long ago. The fact that General Zhang Shi managed to endure it until now proves that he has excellent character.”
“The truth is that Ren Tianye went too far. He suppressed General Zhang Shi far too harshly and must have given Wang Ming countless resources and pieces of intelligence, allowing Wang Ming to keep him firmly beneath his heel!”
“General Zhang Shi simply couldn’t endure it any longer. Only after I offered him a substantial sum did he agree to surrender!”
In the letter Ning Wanqin had sent Ruan Fei, she had given a detailed account of all the grievances Zhang Shi had suffered in Ren Tianye’s camp.
Now, in order to persuade Zhou Mengyan, Ruan Fei had practically unfolded the entire letter and was reading it to him point by point, leaving Zhou Mengyan completely dumbfounded.
Zhou Mengyan had certainly investigated Ren Tianye, and naturally, he had also investigated the generals under Ren Tianye’s command. There was quite a bit of information on Zhang Shi in particular.
But no matter how thorough the investigation, it was difficult to uncover the details of the core incidents. He had only known that the famed Zhang Shi had achieved little during the campaign against Yunjing. He had never realized that so many twists and turns lay hidden behind it all.
“Zhang Shi… has had it pretty rough.”
After learning the information in Ruan Fei’s letter, Zhou Mengyan couldn’t help feeling a trace of sympathy for Zhang Shi. “Wang Ming is far inferior to him, yet he’s been ahead of him at every turn!”
“Wang Ming gets all the credit while Zhang Shi is sent around the rear to eat dirt?”
“He loses to Wang Ming in everything?”
“Even Zhenjiang City was taken by Wang Ming without the slightest effort, leaving Zhang Shi with nothing?”
“And now… the entire army camp calls him the Grand General of Flanking?”
“Hiss…”
“If this had happened to me, I would have lost my patience long ago!”
As someone who had also lived by the sword, Zhou Mengyan could empathize deeply with Zhang Shi’s situation. And because Zhou Mengyan himself was ambitious, he felt even more strongly for Zhang Shi.
The more he thought about it, the more miserable Zhang Shi seemed.
Even Zhou Mengyan, his opponent, found it difficult to listen any longer.
“Could this be retribution for all the bloodshed he caused on the grasslands? That’s why he’s suffering such a fate?”
“Or perhaps…”
Zhou Mengyan quickly thought of another possibility.
“It was all deliberately arranged by Ren Tianye!”
“Yes, that must be it. It was deliberately arranged by Ren Tianye!”
“Zhang Shi swept across the northern frontier and destroyed the enemy’s strongholds, earning such overwhelming merit that the northern tribes would be unable to march south again for at least twenty years. That kind of extraordinary achievement must have frightened Ren Tianye, made him uneasy, and even… made him jealous!”
“Throughout history, achieving too much merit has always been a grave taboo when serving beneath one’s ruler!”
“Zhang Shi had committed the greatest taboo in Ren Tianye’s eyes!”
“Because Zhang Shi had violated that taboo, Ren Tianye suppressed him at every turn and deliberately cultivated Wang Ming to counterbalance him!”
“That was why Zhang Shi kept suffering setback after setback!”
“That was why Ren Tianye publicly showed him such disdain at the ceremony!”
“That was why he deliberately humiliated Zhang Shi!”
“But Zhang Shi… was a renowned general. How could a man like him endure such disgrace?”
“Then Little Fei happened to pave the way for him, and General Zhang Shi wasted no time surrendering to Little Fei!”
The more Zhou Mengyan thought about it, the more convincing the possibility seemed. It was so convincing that he couldn’t think of any other explanation.
“Brother Mengyan, you believe me now, don’t you?”
“General Zhang Shi is sincerely coming over to pledge his allegiance!”
They say that the person at your side knows your weaknesses best. By observing the changes in Zhou Mengyan’s expression, Ruan Fei clearly understood what he was thinking.
He continued persuading him, “Brother Mengyan, this is an opportunity that may not come once in a thousand years. We absolutely cannot miss it!”
“Besides…”
“General Zhang Shi is almost here!”
“He came alone. He didn’t even bring a change of clothes—he came entirely by himself. Isn’t that proof enough of his attitude?”
…
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
nce】【Lighthearted Comedy】【Ultimate Gentleman's Novel】【Viewer Discretion Advised for Under 16】 The mightiest human hero, Sharen Morian, is resurrected after a thousand years by his wife—the Demon King. This is not your typical hero-vs-demon-king tale.
e vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
